Boris Johnson introduced face masks in English schools after he was advised it was "not worth an argument" with Nicola Sturgeon over the issue, according to reports.
The then Prime Minister asked English Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty for advice on face masks in schools after Nicola Sturgeon introduced them in corridors and communal areas in secondary schools in August 2020.
Whitty told Johnson that there were “no strong reasons against in corridors etc, and no very strong reasons for" introducing the masks.
He added: “So agree not worth an argument.”
The UK Government announced the following day that secondary children in areas subject to local lockdowns would have to wear face masks in corridors and communal areas where it was difficult to social distance.
They later had to wear them in classrooms. Masks remained in English schools for nearly 16 months.
The conversations were reported by The Telegraph after the newspaper received more than 100,000 of former health secretary Matt Hancock's WhatsApp messages from during the pandemic.
The messages were given to the paper by journalist Isabel Oakeshott. She was given the messages by Hancock while she worked with him on his book.
Hancock has said that the messages were stolen and has hinted that he will take legal action.
The Telegraph has been revealing details of the messages bit-by-bit. They have called the series 'The Lockdown Files'.
The messages suggest that Johnson was influenced to bring masks into English schools after Sturgeon introduced them in Scotland on August 25, 2020. This was a week before English schools reopened after the summer holiday.
Johnson messaged into a WhatsApp group: “Folks I am about to asked about masks in schools. Before we perform another u turn can I have a view on whether they are necessary?”
Johnson’s director of communications Lee Cain asked why the Government would “want to have the fight on not having masks in certain school settings”.
Permanent secretary for Covid Simon Case said “nervous parents will freak out” if children had to wear masks in Scottish schools but not English ones.
He added that said unless Whitty and and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance were "willing to go out and say [the World health Organisation] and Scots are wrong, I think some nervous parents will freak out about this happening in Scotland, but not in England.”
Whitty replied: “No strong reason against in corridors etc, and no very strong reasons for.
"The downsides are in the classroom because of the potential to interfere with teaching. So agree not worth an argument.”
New guidance that masks should be worn when moving around schools and in communal areas was introduced the next day.
Face masks were then recommended for "all indoor environments" in February 2021.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
